Northern Ireland's manager Michael O'Neill believes several of his players will have matured as international footballers after their 1–1 draw in Portugal.

O'Neill's team defied the odds to claim a famous point in World Cup qualifying against a star-studded team led by Cristiano Ronaldo in Porto last month, a huge morale boost after the side were held at home by Luxembourg in September.

Azerbaijan are next up in Group F on 14 November and Northern Ireland are desperate to register a first win of the campaign.

Where the likes of Steven Davis and Aaron Hughes were involved in the famous wins over England and Spain during the Lawrie Sanchez years, the Portugal result marked the first great underdog result for many of the starting XI.

Niall McGinn, who scored their goal, Ryan McGivern, Corry Evans, Oliver Norwood and Craig Cathcart all impressed at Estádio do Dragão but have previously been uncertain of their places.

O'Neill is now confident they have taken a big step in their development. "I think it feels like we have some more established players now, and you always hope for that," he said. "Players need time and opportunities to grow at international level and being involved in nights like Portugal help to do that.

"Look at the experiences gained by players like Niall, Corry, Ollie and Ryan – that was probably their first big experience of that kind of game and coming away from an arena like that with a result."

O'Neill has named a 24-man squad for the Windsor Park game against Azerbaijan, with the likes of Chris Brunt, Gareth McAuley, Grant McCann, Shane Ferguson and Andy Little all back after missing the Portugal match.

That means the stand-ins who performed so admirably face stiff competition for their places – with the likes of Brunt, McAuley and Ferguson likely to push particularly hard. "There are always going to be decisions to make about who starts and who doesn't start," admitted O'Neill.

"Sometimes players are left out of a team not because of their last performance but because of the approach we might take on the night. This is a game we intend to win, to play really positively on the front foot. We'll be positive from the off and that will be a factor in the team we start with against Azerbaijan."

Although O'Neill was able to call on a strong squad, one notable absentee was Burnley's striker Martin Paterson, who withdrew from O'Neill's previous squad due to "ongoing fitness issues" and has remained unavailable despite playing, and scoring, for his club at the weekend.

Paterson has a poor injury record and a new manager to impress at club level, Sean Dyche. Although O'Neill understands the reasoning behind his absence, he regrets not being able to call on him. "The conversation we had with Martin last time was that he was not available and that he would come back to me when he was," said O'Neill. "I would like Martin to be available and I've selected him every time he has been.

"I still think he could be a very important player for us but he is wary because of his injury problems and I understand his reasons. I appreciate it from a professional point of view – he had a difficult decision to make and he made that decision. I have to respect that but I want this squad as strong as possible and I would like to have him [in it]."

Hull's defender Alex Bruce is also named in the party. The 28-year-old won two caps for the Republic of Ireland in 2007 and 2008 friendlies but never featured in a competitive fixture. He was also named in the initial squad for Portugal but withdrew injured after attending a training camp with his new team-mates. He will provide cover at right-back.